K-State launches strategic assessment of centers, institutes and core facilities
A universitywide review will identify opportunities to strengthen alignment, collaboration and strategic investment across K-State’s research enterprise.
Dear K-State community,
As part of K-State’s commitment to advancing the goals of the Next-Gen K-State strategic plan, we continue to invest in the infrastructure needed to grow our research enterprise, increase our number of competitive awards and research expenditures and support interdisciplinary research.
K-State is home to more than 90 centers, institutes and core facilities that support research, scholarship and collaborative discovery. As we continue the institution-wide Budget Transformation initiative and strengthen our focus on institutional effectiveness, it is time to evaluate how these entities are structured and positioned to support our researchers and research teams.
Throughout the upcoming academic year, the Office of the Vice President for Research will assess K-State’s centers, institutes and core facilities. This evaluation will capture the current university portfolio, examine successful practices at peer and aspirant institutions, and provide recommendations to improve organization and support. The goal is to enhance governance and strategic management, and to establish clear processes for creating, reviewing, and, if necessary, retiring these entities.
This effort is intended to identify opportunities for strategic investment and shared support while helping to ensure that entities operating under the K-State umbrella remain nimble, responsive and aligned with our institutional research priorities. In doing so, it advances the university’s broader budget transformation process by directing investment toward critical research infrastructure.
The VPR’s office will be supported in this work by Emergent Method, a consulting firm that has previously worked with K-State on strategic planning and organizational initiatives, and many of you know. Their familiarity with our culture, structure and processes will greatly benefit this effort.
In the coming months, members of the campus community may receive requests for information or invitations to participate in interviews, surveys or other engagements. We appreciate your responsiveness and look forward to working together to strengthen how K-State supports its centers, institutes and core facilities so they can best support and propel our high-quality research, discovery and scholarship.
Go 'Cats!
Hans Coetzee
Vice president for research